Council Actions

Alexandria, VA – MAY 4, 2012  – An independent panel of scientists endorsed the findings of the 2012 Benchmark Stock Assessment for River Herring, concluding the overall coast-wide population of river herring (alewife and blueback herring) stocks on the US Atlantic coast is depleted to near historic lows. The "depleted" determination was used instead of "overfished" and "overfishing" because many factors, not just directed and incidental fishing, are contributing to the declining abundance of river herring. In addition to reducing harvest, recovery of river herring will need to address issues such as fish passage, predation, water quality, and climate change.

River herring are an anadromous species, spending the majority of their life at sea and  returning to their natal streams to spawn. While at sea, mixing is believed to occur among multiple river-specific stocks and the incidental catch of river herring in non-targeted ocean fisheries is known to include both immature and mature fish.

Ideally, river herring should be assessed and managed by individual river systems. However, with over 200 river-specific stocks, population estimates were difficult to develop for the majority of these due to insufficient data. For the 52 river-specific stocks of alewife and blueback herring for which data were available, 23 were depleted relative to historic levels, one stock was increasing, and the status of 28 stocks could not be determined because of the data’s limited time-series (see Table below).

In 2008, in response to perceived declines, the Management Board initiated the development of Amendment 2 to the Shad and River Herring FMP. Under Amendment 2, states and jurisdictions without an approved sustainable fisheries management plan were required to close their river herring fisheries by January 1, 2012. States with approved plans are Maine, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina and South Carolina. Prohibitions on harvest currently occur in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia, Potomac River Fisheries Commission, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida. The Commission will continue to coordinate with the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils in monitoring and reducing river herring by-catch in at-sea fisheries.

A more detailed overview of the River Herring Stock Assessment is available here.  It was developed with the intent of aiding media and interested stakeholders in better understanding the Commission’s stock assessment results and process. Copies of the River Herring Stock Assessment Report and Assessment Peer Review Report will be available on the Commission website under Breaking News on May 7. For more information, please contact Kate Taylor, Fishery Management Coordinator, at ktaylor@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.    

 

 

 

 

 

Alexandria, VA – May 4, 2012 —  The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Spiny Dogfish and Coastal Sharks Management Board increased the 2012/2013 spiny dogfish quota from 30 to 35.6 million pounds.  The increase is consistent with proposed regulations for federal waters as well the recommendations of the ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Technical Committee and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council Spiny Dogfish Monitoring Committee. The table below shows preliminary regional and state commercial quotas for the 2012/2013 season as adjusted for overages and rollovers.

The Board also approved Draft Addendum IV to the Spiny Dogfish Fishery Management Plan for public comment.  The Draft Addendum proposes allowing exemptions (with Board approval) to the 5% maximum quota rollover provision as well as measures to update the spiny dogfish overfishing definition based on recommendations of the ASMFC Spiny Dogfish Technical Committee.  The rollover provision exemption seeks to provide states the opportunity to rollover more than 5% of their unharvested quota from one year to the next. It responds to concerns by states in the southern region that early closure of federal water fisheries often leaves more than 5% of their quota unharvested.

The Draft Addendum also proposes providing the Board the flexibility to update or modify the management program’s overfishing definition by Board action based on the recommendations of its Technical Committee and best available science. The current overfishing definition is based on the number of pups per female that recruit to the stock and was adopted in 2002 from the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Plan.  Since that time, the Council has updated its definition based on maximum sustainable yield or a reasonable proxy, consistent with the best available science.  Adjusting the overfishing definition is a technical consideration and will not impact management significantly.

Preliminary 2012/2013 regional and state commercial spiny dogfish quotas adjusted for overages and rollovers from the 2011/2012 fishing season 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alexandria, VA — May 2, 2011– The Executive Committee of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission met yesterday afternoon to consider the future direction of the Commission. After lengthy discussion, the Executive Committee approved an action to move forward with new leadership in the near future.

The approved change includes appointment of a new Executive Director, thus replacing the current Executive Director, John V. O'Shea, who has served in the position for the past ten years.

Paul Diodati, the Chairman of the Commission said, "The Commission has prospered under Executive Director O'Shea's administrative oversight. His professionalism and conservation ideals set a high standard for the Commission that will guide us in making a new appointment. We will work closely with Mr. O'Shea over the next few months to help make a successful transition in leadership."

Last evening as part of its Annual Awards of Excellence, the Commission honored Mr. O’Shea’s 10 years of contributions to Atlantic coastal fisheries management.

 

The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

May 10, 2012 — The Benchmark Stock Assessments for American Eel and River Herring are now available on the Commission's website, www.asmfc.org, under Breaking News. Please note that the documents are large and may take some time downloading. The reports are also available on CD-ROM; please contact Kate Taylor at ktaylor@asmfc.org if you are interested in receiving a CD.  

Please also note that the format of these documents are different from previous Advisory and Stock Assessment Reports.  For American eel, both the Terms of Reference and Advisory Report are combined in one report, called American Eel Benchmark Stock Assessment. Due to the volume of information contained therein, the river herring report is divided into two volumes. Volume I contains the Terms of Reference and Advisory Report, the ASMFC Shad and River Herring Technical Committee Response to the Peer Review, and the Coast-wide Assessment. Volume II contains state/jurisdiction-specific stock status summaries.

Stock Assessment Overviews for both benchmark assessments can also be found on the Breaking News page.

 

 

May 8, 2012 – There will be a meeting of the Recreational Advisory Panel on May 15, 2012 at the Sheraton Colonial, Wakefield, MA and a Groundfish Advisory Panel meeting on May 22, 2012 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland, ME.

Information about the Recreational Advisory Panel on May 15, 2012

Information about the Groundfish Advisory Panel meeting on May 22, 2012

 

 

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia – MAY 8, 2012 — Dr. John Sweka with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was presented the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's Technical Achievement Award in recognition for his work in advancing the assessment and management of several Commission-managed species.

"On behalf of our Commissioners, I would like to commend Dr. Sweka for his keen technical and analytical support to our American Eel, Atlantic Striped Bass, and River Herring Stock Assessment Subcommittees as well as the Horseshoe Crab Adaptive Resource Management Subcommittee. His efforts and leadership have contributed to improved stock assessments and the use of innovative management tools," stated ASMFC Executive Director John V. O'Shea.

As Chair of the River Herring Stock Assessment Subcommittee, Dr. Sweka provided strong leadership in the development of the 2012 benchmark stock assessment for river herring. The assessment, endorsed for management use by an independent panel of scientists this May, analyzed and determined stock status for 52 river-specific populations of river herring.

In addition, Dr. Sweka played a key role in furthering horseshoe crab management by aiding in the development of the Adaptive Resource Management framework, incorporating both shorebird and horseshoe crab abundance levels to set horseshoe crab management measures for the Delaware Bay area. As a result of his efforts, horseshoe crab will be the first interstate fisheries management program to explicitly address multispecies objectives.

 

 

The Council Report summarizes major issues voted on or discussed at each regularly scheduled meeting of the NEFMC. The Council’s 18 members met most recently on April 24-26, 2012 in Mystic, CT.

At its April meeting, the Council addressed issues related to protected species, groundfish, a report by the Scientific and Statistical Committee, scallops, habitat, small mesh fisheries, monkfish and dogfish.

    •   Additionally, a number of presentations were received on the following topics and are available on the Council’s website, www.nefmc.org:

    •   Overviews of the potential implications of the April 6, 2012 Atlantic sturgeon ESA listing on NEFMC fishery management plans and recent changes to the Harbor Porpoise Take Reduction Plan;

    •   A summary of the assessment and data updates for 13 Northeast groundfish stocks through 2010;

    •   Northeast Fisheries Science Center plans for future Atlantic sea scallop surveys, including details

about the testing and use of the towed underwater camera “HabCam”; and

    •   An overview of the Scientific and Statistical Committee’s most recent meeting.

 View the complete NEFMC Council report

 

 

 

 

 

Alexandria, VA — May 4, 2012 – An independent panel of scientists endorsed the findings of the 2012 Benchmark Stock Assessment for River Herring, concluding the overall coastwide population of river herring (alewife and blueback herring) stocks on the US Atlantic coast is depleted to near historic lows. The "depleted" determination was used instead of "overfished" and "overfishing" because many factors, not just directed and incidental fishing, are contributing to the declining abundance of river herring. In addition to reducing harvest, recovery of river herring will need to address issues such as fish passage, predation, water quality, and climate change.

River herring are an anadromous species, spending the majority of their life at sea and  returning to their natal streams to spawn. While at sea, mixing is believed to occur among multiple river-specific stocks and the incidental catch of river herring in non-targeted ocean fisheries is known to include both immature and mature fish.

Ideally, river herring should be assessed and managed by individual river systems. However, with over 200 river-specific stocks, population estimates were difficult to develop for the majority of these due to insufficient data. For the 52 river-specific stocks of alewife and blueback herring for which data were available, 23 were depleted relative to historic levels, one stock was increasing, and the status of 28 stocks could not be determined because of the data’s limited time-series (see Table below).

In 2008, in response to perceived declines, the Management Board initiated the development of Amendment 2 to the Shad and River Herring FMP. Under Amendment 2, states and jurisdictions without an approved sustainable fisheries management plan were required to close their river herring fisheries by January 1, 2012. States with approved plans are Maine, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina and South Carolina. Prohibitions on harvest currently occur in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia, Potomac River Fisheries Commission, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida. The Commission will continue to coordinate with the Mid-Atlantic and New England Fishery Management Councils in monitoring and reducing river herring bycatch in at-sea fisheries.

A more detailed overview of the River Herring Stock Assessment is available at http://www.asmfc.org/speciesDocuments/shad/stockassmtreports/riverHerringStockAssessmentOverview_May2012.pdf.  It was developed with the intent of aiding media and interested stakeholders in better understanding the Commission’s stock assessment results and process. Copies of the River Herring Stock Assessment Report and Assessment Peer Review Report will be available on the Commission website under Breaking News on May 7. For more information, please contact Kate Taylor, Fishery Management Coordinator, at ktaylor@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alexandria, VA – May 3, 2012 –  The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's South Atlantic State-Federal Fisheries Management Board approved the Public Information Document for the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Black Drum for public review and comment. As the first step in the development of the FMP, the PID presents the current status of the fishery and resource, and solicits public input on changes observed in the fishery; actions to be taken in terms of management, enforcement, and research; and any other concerns about the resource or fishery.

The FMP is being initiated in response to concern regarding significant increases in harvest in recent years and the fact that the fishery primarily targets juveniles. The Commission is also moving forward with conducting the first coastwide assessment of this species. The assessment will be developed concurrently with the FMP to support establishment of the interstate management program.

States will be conducting public hearings on the PID; information on those hearings will be released when they are finalized. Fishermen and other interested groups are encouraged to provide input on the PID either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. The PID can be obtained via the Commission’s website www.asmfc.org under Breaking News or by contacting the Commission at 703.842.0740. Public comment will be accepted until 5:00 PM (EST) on July 20, 2012 and should be forwarded to Danielle Chesky, FMP Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at dchesky@asmfc.org (Subject line: Black Drum PID).